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Salsa Casera de Jesusita (Jesusita’s House Salsa)

If you ever come to my home you will find this salsa in my refrigerator, freezer, or on my countertop with some tortilla chips. This is the salsa I grew up eating and I can’t live without it.

I add this salsa to my spinach omelet every morning and top my dinner with it too. I’m like my mother and have to eat chile with every meal, yes, even if it’s not a Mexican meal. I need spice—I crave it. If you own a copy of our cookbook this salsa might look familiar to you.

Every year we stock our garage freezer with bushels of fire roasted long green chile from Pueblo. It’s a tradition now since I’ve been living in Colorado. In El Paso we always bought Hatch green chile. I honestly can’t tell the difference, but I’m not a green chile connoisseur. Both are amazing and of course depending on the season one may be spicier than the other.

This is the simple house salsa I grew up eating. My grandma, Jesusita made this same salsa daily. First she’d roast the long green chiles, and then she’d peel them. Instead of using a food processor or blender, she would squeeze the roasted chiles and tomatoes with her bare hands to make the salsa. Just being near the chiles made my eyes water, but her hands seemed magically impervious to the burn.

From my child’s perspective, her hands looked so strong and yet so gentle to me. As I watched her make the salsa, she’d tell me stories about how she picked cotton as a little girl and washed clothes by hand using a metal washboard in boiling water. It was then I realized why her hands looked so strong—she had labored with them her entire life to feed and clothe her family.

My grandma had a garden and would home grow tomatoes and can them. My mom makes her same recipe but she simplified it by using Hunt’s whole tomatoes and sauce because she likes the flavor and the consistency more than any other brand. Mother knows best, and this is how I make it too. I always make sure to make plenty to stock in my freezer.

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, pulse the roasted and peeled chiles, jalapeño peppers (optional), salt, garlic, canned tomatoes, and tomato sauce for a few seconds. You do not want to puree it—chunky is best with this flavorful salsa.

Tag #MUYBUENOCOOKING if you make this recipe.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Hunt’s. We were compensated for recipe development. The views and opinions expressed about the product are purely our own and based upon our personal experiences. We are thrilled to partner with brands, which we think are an ideal fit for us and you our awesome readers.

Sweet gorditas? Nope, but now I’m determined to try! Sounds tasty!

Do you use canned product for simplicity or flavor? I’d rather use fresh produce, and in that case would I cook the tomatoes?

Hi Thya,

Its more about simplicty. Our grandma always used home stewed tomatoes. You could also try roasting tomatoes to give your salsa an added smoky flavor. Either way I promise you will love this salsa. Keep us posted!

Just found your blog, some very interesting recipes. Cant wait to try some out. I noticed this recipe was sponsored by Hunts. Well. whether it was or not, the only canned tomatoes i ever use are Hunt’s or Muir Organic. The Hunt’s petite diced ones, are incredible.

These recipes remind me of growing up..my grams always said “real women always make salsa by hand” I am from El Paso also..interesting.

Do you de-seed the Anaheim Chile’s? Since it’s for salsa I’m not sure. Thank you! 🙂

Hi Mary! You can if you want, but I personally do not seed them because I like my salsa spicy. Please look at the blog post again. I just uploaded a NEW video that will help you see the process. Enjoy!